17-year-old arraigned on charges he threatened resident with knife, stole car and led Syracuse police on chase

Syracuse, NY –Saio Barzee, 17, was arraigned in Syracuse City Court this morning on charges, accusing him of a crime spree that included burglary, threatening a victim with a knife, stealing a car and leading Syracuse police on a 20- minute chase Thursday night.

As a seven-year-old, Barzee, of 126 Fenway Drive, Syracuse, was the subject of a feature story in The Post-Standard when he was adopted from his native Sierra Leone by a local couple.

Barzee was arraigned this morning in Syracuse City Court before City Judge Karen Uplinger. She set bail at $50,000 cash or bond for two of the cases in which he is accused of felonies, and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Wednesday.

The judge set bail at $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond for a third misdemeanor case. Uplinger adjourned that case to Wednesday as well.

Barzee had a large bandage on his forehead over his right eye in court this morning.

Court documents available this morning lay out the case:

Barzee approached a 60-year-old man in the 1000 block of Comstock Avenue at 10:21 p.m., asking for change of a $20 bill. The man told Barzee he couldn’t change the bill and walked away. Barzee then followed him for several blocks, at one point running after him while the man tried to get into his residence on Lancaster Avenue.

At one point, Barzee “stopped and stared” at the victim causing him to fear for his safety.

Barzee is accused of misdemeanor fourth-degree stalking in that case.

Barzee is accused of entering another Lancaster Avenue home at 10:39 p.m.

He is accused of threatening a man with a black handled folding knife, stabbing him in the back and ordering the victim to place a lap top computer and Apple Mac Book into a laundry bag.

Barzee then forced the man out of the home and into the victim’s 1998 Chevrolet Prizm to drive to get money from a nearby ATM, papers said. The man ran away when Barzee got into the driver’s seat.

Barzee was charged with first-degree burglary, first degree robbery, fourth- degree grand larceny and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon in that case. All are felonies.

Police said that within about 10 minutes, an officer spotted the Prizm near South Salina Street and Roney Road. The driver ignored calls to pull over and he led police on a 20-minute chase that reached Thompson Road in DeWitt.

Officers placed stop sticks near Thompson and Alpine Drive. Barzee ran over the sticks, causing three of the car's tires to deflate.

He then turned right on Erie Boulevard East and drove into the Goodyear Tire store at 3136 Erie Blvd. East on the south side of the boulevard and crashed into two police cars.

Barzee jumped out of the car and started running west on the boulevard until he was caught a short time later.

The crash that occurred at 11:07 p.m. injured Det. Jeffrey Okon, who was taken to Upstate University Hospital for treatment of an ankle injury.

In that case, Barzee is charged with felony second-degree assault.

He was also charged with being an unlicensed operator, speeding, disobeying a traffic control device, having an uninspected motor vehicle, failure to comply with an order, and failure to yield right of way to an emergency vehicle,

Barzee had recently been given youthful offender status by Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey.

He was sentenced to five year's probation for possession of stolen property in a grand larceny case that involved a stolen car. Barzee was given credit for time served in jail while the case was pending. He was released following the sentencing.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Kasmarek said in that case Barzee had been caught driving a stolen vehicle, but authorities couldn't prove he actually stole the vehicle from a neighbor's residence.

Authorities said they expect Barzee will face a probation violation charge as a result of the new charges.

The Post-Standard featured Barzee when he was adopted in 2002 from war-ravaged Sierra Leone by Linda and Bill Barzee.

In a follow-up story in 2010, his mother said that the then 15-year-old boy was attending North Syracuse Junior High where as a freshman he was a starter on the varsity soccer team.

His dream was to attend college and play soccer at North Carolina, his mother said at the time.